Jeremiah Ani (born 12 February 1985 in Kaduna) is a Nigerian international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

with Maltese citizenship, he is currently plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Luqa St Andrews Fc. He plays as a striker/winger.

Career

He started his youth football with Black Gold FC and Adamawa United FC respectively. In 2002, he moved to Malta, signing for

Naxxar Lions Naxxar Lions Football Club is a football club from the town of Naxxar in northern Malta Their historical and arch-rivals are Mosta FC. A match between Naxxar Lions and Mosta FC, is known as the derby of the north, but because there are other ...

where he scored 18 goals in 16 league games that year and was so the top scorer of the First division in 2004. He was then attracting interest from top clubs in Malta such as

Valletta F.C. Valletta F.C. is a professional football club based in Valletta, the capital city of Malta, and competes in the Maltese Premier League, the top flight of Maltese football. The club was founded in 1943 after a merge of Valletta Prestons, Valletta ...

, Sliema Wanderers F.C. and clubs from Cyprus. He then signed for

After leaving Valletta FC, he joined

Al Ittihad Kalba Ittihad Kalba Football Club ( ar, نادي إتحاد كلباء لكرة القدم‎) is a football club in Kalba, United Arab Emirates. History Ittihad Kalba was established in 1972 when two clubs ''(Al Shabab)'' and ''(Al Rooba)'' merged wi ...

in Dubai (U.A.E) on a 6-month deal. He moved back to Malta and joined Kercem Ajax F.C. He scored 18 goals to win the top scorer of the 2007 Div 1 League. He then attracted the interests of some clubs in Italy, Portugal and Russia. He is a power forward who has been compared to Drogba, with his style of play. He played in the Portuguese Super Liga after signing a 3-year contract with

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela da Amadora (), sometimes just Estrela, is a Portuguese sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. It's the successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in ...

;. After Impressing in trials with Crystal Palace,

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

and Notts County, after much negotiations, with Notts County and Argyle unable to reach a deal to sign the forward, Ani signed with Rotherham United, to start his first spell in English football. He made his debut for the Millers in their 1–0 win over Lincoln City in the Football League Trophy on 31 August 2010. He also played for APOP Kinyras FC in the top league of Cyprus. In 2012, he moved back to Malta and joined Sliema Wanderers F.C. In January 2014, Ani joined Maltese First Division side Pieta' Hotspurs and made his debut on Wednesday 22 January 2014 in a Trophy match, with his side beating Hiberians F.C.

International career

He featured for the U-17 junior national team of Nigeria. Ani was involved in the buildup to the 2008 Olympic games for Nigeria U-23 national side, as he was regularly called up to the national side by Samson Siasia, who was the head coach. He featured for the Nigerian Olympic squad in 2008. He was also part of the Nigerian U-23 team that won the Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ani, Jeremiah 1985 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Naxxar Lions F.C. players Valletta F.C. players Kerċem Ajax F.C. players Primeira Liga players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Veikkausliiga players Rovaniemen Palloseura players Rotherham United F.C. players APOP Kinyras FC players Sliema Wanderers F.C. players Marsaxlokk F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Olympic footballers for Nigeria Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malta Footballers from Kaduna